Top Real Estate Brokers and Brokerages in Illinois

Vanessa Carlson

💰 Sales volume: $68 million

👩‍⚖️ About: Vanessa Carlson is a real estate broker based in Illinois. She covers some major MLS’ and has 5-star consumer ratings. She has been in the industry for the past 16 years. As per realtor.com, she has 466 listings under her belt.

🥇 Accolades:  She launched a discount flat fee brokerage to provide exceptional online listing FSBO services. She is additionally associated with Houzeo which is America’s #1 Flat Fee MLS listing service.

iRealtyFlatFeeBrokerage

🏡 About: iRealty is a discount brokerage that offers sellers affordable MLS packages and a 0.75 percent closing rebate to buyers. For a first-time seller, they offer full-service alternatives as well as additional tools such as a yard sign and all legal documentation required by FSBO sellers.

Houzeo.com

💰 Save Thousands on Commission: Venessa offers her services through Houzeo’s plans typically for a small flat fee. This will save you thousands. If your buyer is unrepresented, you save the buyer agent commission as well.

📣 Maximum Exposure: Listings get syndicated to the MLS, Zillow, Realtor.com, Redfin, Trulia, and hundreds of other websites. Houzeo also has nifty social media sharing tools. No other platform gives you this much exposure.

⚡ Fast Listing & Changes: Through Houzeo, Venessa offers all her services 100% online. Listing is easy and changes are fast. So you can focus on what is most important – your sale.

📱 Cutting-edge Technology: Through Houzeo, Venessa provides various tech-enabled solutions. These include:

• IntelliList Listing Management System: Lets you manage your listing 100% online.
• Houzeo Showings: Manage showing appointments online.
• Houzeo Offers: All offers are summarized online. You can view and compare offers, or counter an offer. In a multiple-offer situation, you can also call for the highest and best offers.
• Buyer Search: Buyers can contact you directly on Houzeo.com instead of going through a real estate agent.
• Houzeo Settlement Agent Platform: Guides you to your closing.

No other Realtor comes close to offering such features.

👉 Our Take: Venessa is our top pick because her services deliver an unbeatable combination of savings, and tech features, and covers all the major MLS’ in Illinois.

»SAVE: Start your free listing on Houzeo.com today!

Kimberley Taylor

💰 Sales volume: $32 million (2021)

👩‍⚖️ About: Kimberley Taylor is a managing real estate broker in Illinois. She boasts of 20 years of experience in the industry and manages her firm NextHome First Class. She has excellent testimonials mentioning her quick closing and stellar local knowledge.

🥇 Accolades: She is the recipient of the Expert Network Distinguished Realtor award and was featured in the Top Agent Magazine. She sold about $32 million worth of properties in 2021 with an average of 1.5 days closing!

NextHome First Class

🏡 About: NextHome is a real estate company servicing the north and northwest Illinois. They offer full-service options including market evaluation, marketing, agent selection, and much more for buyers and sellers.

Edward Lukasik Jr

👨‍⚖️ About: Edward Lukasik Jr. is a broker and owner of RE/MAX Professionals in Bolingbrook IL with 21 years of experience in the real estate market. He is known for closing quickly within an average of 1.5 days. He has excellent reviews for his process expertise and negotiation skills. He is technologically advanced and uses tech to maximize client exposure.

🥇 Accolades: He is recognized as the #1 RE/MAX agent in Illinois and #1 in Will County for having the most sold listings. He is also the recipient of the RE/MAX lifetime achievement award and is the member of their prestigious hall of fame.

RE/MAX

🏡 About RE/MAX: RE/MAX (short for Real Estate Maximums) is a well-known real estate company in the world. RE/MAX, which has more than 125,000 agents across the country, was named the top real estate brokerage franchisor by the Franchise 500 for the year 2020.

💰 Commission: The company was established with a maximum commission concept, meaning agents would keep nearly all of their commissions and pay their broker a share of the office expenses, rather than paying their broker a share of the commission of each sale, which is common in residential real estate.

Ray Young

💰 Sales volume: $154 million

👨‍⚖️ About: Ray Young is a real estate agent licensed in Illinois and Wisconsin. He boasts of being the top producer of Dickerson and Nieman for more than 19 years. He also acts as a full-time REALTOR being a member of the IAR, and WAR.  He specializes in new construction homes,  investment properties, foreclosures, and acreage.

🥇 Accolades: He has been a consistent recipient of the Double Diamond and Diamond awards. He has over $154 million worth of closed sales under his belt and is a member of the prestigious President’s club.

Dickerson and Nieman

🏡 About: Dickerson and Nieman is a real estate firm catering to buyers and sellers. They hold the title of being #1 in Rock River Valley. They are a team of agents and real estate professionals known especially for perfecting the needs of clients needing new construction and relocation services. They also hold the title of one of the top residential real estate firms in the country.

Lisa McKinney

👩‍⚖️ About: Lisa McKinney is a designated managing broker-owner active in Mount Vernon, IL with over 30 years of experience. For the past five years, she has held the record for the Double Centurion Award. She is regarded as a commercial specialist for her local knowledge and for leveraging cutting-edge technologies to stay on top of market trends.

Century 21

🏡 About: Century 21 is one of the world’s largest real estate brokerage firms. Century 21 has over 11,600 independent franchise real estate brokers working with over 122,000 real estate agents as of April 2021. Their international offices span over 80 countries.

👨‍⚖️ Experienced Agents and REALTORS: According to Century 21 reviews, Century 21 real estate agents are highly regarded and well-informed. Century 21 Realtors are likely to provide a positive experience. Regardless of whether or not your agent is new to the real estate industry, you can rest assured that they have the support of a well-established company.

Baird and Warner Real Estate, Inc. 

💰 Total sales volume: $6.3 billion

🏡 About: Baird and Warner have been active in the Chicago real estate market for a total of 167 years! They are a real estate company in Chicago, that serves both buyers and sellers. They are the nation’s 16th largest independent brokerage.

💰 Seller Services: In addition to the critical MLS listing, they construct a personalized website for your property that contains specifications, neighborhood analysis, photos, and full videos. You will also receive one-of-a-kind marketing materials such as innovative advertising, flyers, postcards, and brochures.

🛒 Buyer Services: In addition to immediate access to listings, you may explore neighborhoods and learn about market trends by using their useful filters. Furthermore, you can get pre-approved immediately through their website to increase the likelihood of your offer being accepted. They also provide title services through the title service team, which has over 1000 attorneys working to ensure that the property is free of debentures and that nothing interferes with ownership of your property.

Keller Williams Realty Infinity

💰 Total sales volume: $2.8 billion

🏡 About: Keller Williams Realty Infinity is a real estate brokerage in Illinois catering to buyers and sellers. They have a knowledgeable and professional team of real estate agents catering to you throughout the buying process.

👩‍💻 Advantage: Their state-of-the-art systems make the process of purchasing a home as simple and straightforward as possible. Additionally, they have the backing of an internationally known and trusted company, Keller Williams.

Keller Williams

🏨 About: Keller Williams Realtors is a well-known international real estate company that also happens to be the largest residential real estate firm in the United States of America. The brand has a culture that is agent-centric, technology-driven, and education-based, and it recognizes and rewards its agents for their contributions.

@properties

💰 Sales volume: $9.6 billion¹

🏨 About: @properties, founded in 2000, is one of Chicago’s fastest-growing brokerage firms. In addition to closing, mortgage lending, and title insurance, they provide a comprehensive range of services for buyers and sellers. Their agents are well ahead of the curve in terms of innovation, and they want to have a positive impact on the real estate community by providing a one-stop-shop for all of your needs.

🏡 Relocation services: They offer a range of tools and resources for relocation including destination services, rental assistance, customized market data, marketing, and inventory tools, vendor management, and staging among others.

[1] Data from April 2020

Compass, Chicagoland Inc.

💰 Total sales volume: $4.13 billion

🏡 About: Compass, Chicagoland a licensed real estate company in Illinois that utilizes the Internet as a marketing medium with the use of real estate technology. As of the first half of 2021, they have expanded widely across the Chicagoland region adding more than 70 agents to their pre-existing 1400. They rank #2 in the area for maximum market share and closed sales in Chicagoland.

Compass is also the first company to have built a proprietary mobile app for real estate agents.

🛒 For Sellers: Compass Real Estate operates similarly to any other traditional real estate company when it comes to selling your home. Their agents will handle every aspect of your sale, including marketing, holding open houses, fielding offers, negotiating, and finally closing with you.

👩‍💻 Technology: Compass Real Estate uses technology to sell homes, which sets it apart. Your agent will benefit from their data-driven strategy and analytical tools. It will sell quickly when combined with your agent’s local knowledge.

🧭 Compass Concierge Program: A seller may discover that minor repairs or improvements to their home can significantly increase their profit. But not every seller has the funds to make those changes. In this case, clients can use Compass Real Estate’s Concierge program. They will pay for upgrades and repairs up front.

🔏 Private Exclusives: Compass is known for its Compass private exclusives section of listings. These are homes that aren’t on the open market but are available to buyers who work with a Compass agent. Because they aren’t advertised, they are cheaper. Uneven market conditions may favor a private exclusive.

Redefy

🏡 About: Redefy is a flat fee MLS real estate brokerage in Illinois that provide full-service MLS packages. It caters to buyers and sellers and provides a listing at a flat fee of $3500. However, the platform becomes expensive when a house is sold for over $1 million. The selling fee in such a case is 1% of the total sale price.

💻 Additional features: The company does provide in-house support which helps sellers with accurate pricing and other features like staging home, comparative market analysis (CMA), showing service, yard sign, lockbox, and more.

👨‍⚖️ Agent policy: Like some other low-commission real estate agents, Redefy has a process where limited agents cater to a large volume of customers. This poses a risk to service quality. Also, Redefy works on a team-based model rather than a one-agent policy.

🔍 Explore more: Real estate facts you should know